The Winter Social and Design Hack took place at Live Art Bistro on 23rd November 2017 and was organised by Timebank members Reet-so ( Alice and Lucy).This is the second member led social. If you are interested in organising the NEXT social event, get in touch! It’s a good way to earn lots of time credits and to get involved and to know other members.

This event was about sharing, looking forward and thinking about new plans! We invited all Timebank members and other interested people to join us and bring along a book that had inspired their artistic practice to gift, share or exchange with others.
A ‘design hack’ of the timebank was also part of this Social and what we discussed at the social will begin a year where we are looking to make changes and ensure the timebank works at its BEST for you and its network of members.

So a quick update on why happened. The questions asked in the design hack helped us to explore ways we could make the experience for members better and also the experience for those taking more responsibility like time brokers and management group more enjoyable and productive.
We ( very briefly) looked at some alternative models in other time banks and other alternative currency systems. We then had a chat in small groups about what the issues with using the Timebank were and the issues with running/managing the Timebank.

Some main points raised:

TIMEBANK SYSTEM – can feel unappealing to use and very off putting. This is the timebanking.org site but maybe also other aspects of the system like the formal language used. There is a form now on our website but more about this later in this post.

FUNCTIONALITY – are the many jobs to run the Timebank too complex – could we strip it back?

VISIBILITY OF THE TIMEBANK – its often just not in the mind of members, could we be more visible on social media?
Would it be useful to have profiles for each member, if so how can this be created easily given 150 members and who is in agreement that it is a good idea?

So actions from this around: modernising the Timebank and making it more user friendly in its virtual interface, more connected and visible in social media and less admin heavy.

STEP 1 – Thanks to Jessica Sweet who will work out what we do and is needed logistically by meeting with management group early ish January. ( Jessica to email)

STEP 2 – Thanks to Adam Young who together with any members who are tech millennial alternative currency savvy will explore options available of other currency systems we may be able to tap in to that would make the Timebank more user friendly.

ACTION 1: Can you recommend any open source software or systems from which we can develop an App that locates timebank members through their art-form tags to initiate an exchange’ If you could click here to share ideas to our Facebook group that would be ideal, or for those who do not use Facebook, email us with this information/ suggestions which we will pass on to Adam Young.

OTHER IDEAS/ STEPS:

REGULAR TIMEBANK PLAY DAYS – a suggestion to connect with Leftbank open artist days each month ? Is that right? To be run by a member not in management group. Who provides hours? Timebank? Is it like socials?

DISCUSSIONS around TWITTER and making Timebank more visible. Twitter is about conversation. In first instance – I have switched to directly engaging on twitter rather than linking only with Facebook posts. If members could tweet and Facebook more about the Timebank using the hashtag #timebankleeds when talking about Timebank ( this is for members who use social media).

ACTION 2: We hope this form has simplified and improved the user experience. If members could click on this link and have a try at making a request this way ( if you put the words TEST in the request we will know it is not a real request) Then feedback to us if this has improved usability/ made things better and in what ways this still needs improving.Many thanks for reading and please get in touch if you have ideas or thoughts on the things raised.

This post was written by Zoe Parker @Zoe_Parker – a Timebank member, time broker and member of management group. Zoe is a choreographer, producer and performer working in multidisciplinary arts projects that are socially engaged. She is one part of Tea & Tolerance and Yorkshire Life Aquatic.

Sue Ball, director of MAAP and founding committee member of the Leeds Creative Timebank invited me to Leeds to speak with some of the users, timebrokers and steering committee of the Timebank as a means of introducing me to the working infrastructure of the project and to benefit some of my research around alternative systems of value and exchange.

In October 2013 I started my PhD research at the RCA, London as part of the Creative Exchange project across Culture Lab in Newcastle, Imagination in Lancaster and the RCA. My research focusses on knowledge mobilities, through contemporary art, cultural theory and policy. I am particularly interested in alternative readings and practices of knowledge exchange. I facilitate in the Visual Cultures department at Goldsmiths and I organise the JOURNEY/SCHOOL nomadic seminar/salon project, AOTCS Press and am part of practice-based research group, KIOSK

This was one of a series of projects happening in the city in 2013 with Paul Hurley and Caleb Parkin. The projects were cycling as a vehicle for creativity. On this trip, time bank members were used as guides to support the main leaders. This activity went out to all members as we had no idea who cycled and had a bike…its great when the activities challenge the set up. We try to be flexible and versatile to accommodate any creative suggestion. We cycled in groups around the city, with particular tasks. In the one I was part of, we were observing people and trying to pick up bits of their conversations. We then discussed what we had noticed and heard at intervals. It was an interesting way to engage with the city and the people in it. We mapped the experience afterward in Magellan House where we had met for the trip. As a time bank member, its as a valuable experience to part of. i got an insight into how these artists worked and new ways of engaging with public spaces which I really enjoyed.

Caleb and Paul live on a canal boat and have since this time moved out of Leeds down to Bristol.

So July 9th was our latest Big Social held at Wharf Chambers. This was arranged predominantly by Sarah Spanton and Lynette Willoughby. In the Social, members got the chance to socialise and to take part in ‘The gift’. The Gift is a project where members can pitch a project idea that they are currently working on, and other members get to vote on which project or projects they would like to support. This time Lynette Willoughby, Sue Ball and Sarah Spanton kindly donated hours to the time bank to make this possible. Members can donate hours to other members at any time through our gifting transaction service.